What's a Soulmate?
by Evil.expresso.drinks
Summary: The Fairy Tail guild recieves an unexpected prophecy. Eight chosen magical beings must find the "big bad" by merging their...hearts? With their soulmates? What in the world does that mean?
1. What To Do

**This is a fanfiction. Meaning, none of the characters are mine. The idea of this cast's adventure is mine, but the rest of this world and lives are NOT MINE. These are creations of Hiro Mashima. **

**The cover was edited by me, but the drawing wasn't made by me. The owner has full rights, I just used the picture to make sense of this story. **

**There will be some references made to other stories/fanfictions/movies. I will be happy to give credit at the end of each chapter if anything like that is used. **

**The video I will include at the end is not mine. It was taken from Vine as an edit ? ﾟﾒﾖ ****Lucy Heartfilia ? ﾟﾑﾑ ****made. This is not how the profile is written, but it was the closest I could write to it. **

**The quote at the end of this story is from the season finale of the TV series Dawson's Creek.**

**And to conclude these disclaimers, I must ask that if anybody would like to use this fanfiction and spread it in any way, to please give credit. I take my time to write it, just so I can give some readers like myself enjoyment. **

**It will be a multiple chapter story, and feel free to bother me about updating because I realize I'm not the fastest updater. **

**I would like to say now that there may be some homosexual relationships in this story. It's just the couples I would like to see together. That does not mean that these ships are actually canon. Incest will not be part of this, considering I strongly dislike that. **

**I appreciate constructive criticism, but keep any hate comments to yourselves. I'm aware that I may not be the best writer, but that's what learning is for. **

**Thank you for taking your time to read this, and now you may continue with the story.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

In the far away land of the Kingdom of Fiore, there is a town that goes by the name of Magnolia. That town is full of magical places, especially a guild made up of the most powerful wizards known. The guild is known as Fairy Tail. Mages from all over can join this magnificent guild, known for how powerful they are. The wizards take jobs, in which they are payed by the people in need for solving any problems they may have. They may not be the safest guild, considering they destroy anything on their path. Yet they make up for it with all their passion.

What other people outside of the guild don't know, though, is that while they may solve other people's problems, they have many of their own.

"Calm down!" Erza's voice could be heard all throughout the guild hall. As soon as the last person had the command reach their ears, everybody went still.

"This is no reason to panic. The prophecy could mean a lot and could mean nothing at all," the redhead said.

Bixlow rolled his eyes. "It don't seem like it ain't big!"

"It doesn't even sound bad!" argued Mirajane. "Levy, what did you find on it?"

The bluenette was scanning her way through a mountain of books next to her. She seemed extremely focused, which usually meant she was close to figuring something out.

"Where's the old man?" asked Gray. Surely the master would know what to do.

Erza trained her eyes on the ice mage. "In his office, and he'll stay there. This is no reason to interrupt whatever thing he may be doing. Could be anything, could be important."

Gray huffed, but didn't argue. Nobody was stupid enough to argue with Erza. At that moment, a very happy Dragon Slayer walked into the room with his blue cat by his side.

The pink-haired boy caught on the rest of the guild's mood. "What's wrong with all of you?"

Gajeel growled. "Some guy came in here, claiming he was 'the son of the prophecy god' whatever that meant. Started spilling some random prophecy."

"It wasn't random," interfered Levy. "It's called 'The Prophecy of Two Hearts'. A handful of magical beings are chosen by...the prophecy god...to fulfill a celestial task. Their hearts need to merge in order to do this. That has to be done with their soulmates. There will be two hearts, though, whose love will lead the rest."

The guild was silent. Too silent for Natsu's liking. He went to the board to look for a job.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't see any celestial-y jobs."

Lucy stepped closer to Levy. "Could celestial task mean anything to my celestial spirits?"

Levy shrugged. "Could be. It doesn't specify anything. We just gotta wait and see what happens."

Nobody was too happy with that answer, but there was nothing else to do. The rest of the wizards went back to their usual tasks, but the tense atmosphere could still be felt. Erza decided to take matters in her own hands. She grabbed Gray and Natsu by their ears, and dragged them over to Lucy and Levy.

"We need to do something about this. Everybody knows that prophecies are never a good thing," stated the redhead.

"Maybe we can talk to Makarov," said Lucy carefully. "We can at least figure out something about this task."

Erza was about to shake her head, when Gray stopped her.

"Don't be so dense. You know the old man never does anything on days like these."

After finally convincing Erza, the wizards decided to ask the master. Gray and Levy started walking away at a fast pace, Lucy hot on their trails. Unwillingly, Erza followed suit. Before Natsu could follow, Wendy came up behind him.

"What's up, Wendy? Sting being annoying again?" Natsu asked.

Wendy shook her head. "No, I just have a question. I'm guessing it's stupid..."

Natsu grinned. "Have you met me? Come on, ask!"

She bit her lip. "Um, what's a soulmate?"

At this, Natsu stayed silent. He looked at her in the eye. He didn't have an answer for her. "I-I don't know. But when I find out, you'll be the first person I'll tell!"

Wendy smiled widely and skipped away, glad she wasn't the only one with that question. Everybody in the guild had it, though. They knew what it meant, but couldn't quite grasp the concept.

Natsu followed the rest towards Makarov's office. His guildmates were already talking to the old man.

"Who will be going?" asked Lucy.

Makarov looked at her. "How should I know? I'm not the prophecy god."

Gray sweatdropped. He thought the old man would know something. "We need to figure this out soon. The prophecy guy said this had to be done by the end of this month, and we're already halfway through."

"What was the prophecy?" Natsu asked as he tilted his head.

Erza, who'd been surprisingly quiet, spoke up. "Two shall lead, the rest of six. The task be done, at month's end dawn. A sacrifice of one's past mind, to succesfully allow the big bad's find."

"That doesn't sound thag bad!" Natsu interjected. "You've just got to find eighg people to find this 'big bad'!"

"That's the thing, Flamebrain," Gray rolled his eyes. "We don't have any idea who they are and what the 'big bad' is."

"That won't be hard, Stripper. Gramps can choose them! Or the prophecy god will make them shine!"

"It's not that easy, Natsu," said Lucy.

"This has to be thought carefully. We can't risk anything," added Erza.

While they all bickered about what was going to happen, Makarov was deep in thought. Porlyusica had mentioned something about that prophecy. She'd mentioned some 'mark'. He, of course, didn't pay attention to that. She'd said names, though. What were the names?

He snapped his fingers. "Ah, I remember!"

Everybody went silent and stared at him expectantly. "Well...?"

"Yes, I've heard of this before. The mark... I believe it was something engraved in the soul. That's how they were chosen."

Lucy gave a relieved sigh. "Okay then! How do we know they have the mark?"

"I'd need to see with Master Sensor, of course," Makarov nodded. "The task, though, is quite simple. The least payed one on the board. The one that seems the easiest. That will be it, I'm sure. Won't be an obvious one."

"Do your magic!" screeched Happy.

Makarov closed his eyes as he concentrated. He could feel the magic burning at the tip of his fingers. His body was slowly being swallowed by brightness. Then, in a flash, it was gone. When he opened his eyes again, he could see the magicians who were currently in his office draped across the floor.

"Well," he said. "Now go find the other three magical beings and get on with this prophecy already."


	2. Confused With No Answers

The pink-haired boy was on his way to the Fairy Tail guild the day after the prophecy was announced, when he saw Lucy by the corner of his eye. Natsu turned around and walked up to her. Lucy was looking into space, seemingly deep in thought. When Natsu waved his hand in front of her face, she shook her head and stared at him.

"Oh, hey Natsu!" she exclaimed.

"Hi!" he replied. "What were you thinking about?"

"Well... This prophecy? It doesn't make any sense in my opinion."

"Tell me about it." Levy appeared suddenly out of nowhere. "I was awake all night trying to find out what it means. There is no book that says anything about a 'big bad'. I mean, come on. It's a supid name!"

Lucy giggled. "You'll figure it out eventually! But we know that we're part of this prophecy, who do you think is your soulmate...?!"

Natsu drowned away the sound of their voices. He felt uncomfortable with the soulmate talk, since he didn't get it. Fall in love? Find a best friend? He just didn't know what it meant. What bothered him the most, though, was that he didn't have an answer for Wendy.

"...right? Natsu, Natsu! Hey are you even listening?" He looks up to be confronted by piercing blue eyes. He'd somehow gotten to the guild and sat down with his team to discuss the prophecy.

"Huh?"

Gray sighed. "Baka," he muttered.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "You're no better, Ice Cube!"

The two rolled off the table as Natsu threw himself onto Gray. The rest of the team ignored them as they continued talking about their plans.

"I was contacted by Jellal. He should be arriving any moment now. He felt the same thing we did," explained Erza.

Lucy said, "So did Loke. I can summon him when we're all ready."

A certain Iron Dragon Slayer came up behind Levy and poked her. She turned around to fuss at him, when he held his hand up. "Count me in for the thing. Everybody in the town stared at me weird yesterday. It's not everyday you see a man suddenly drop to the floor."

"Not as bad as falling in front of a bunch of gay druggies. Man I got away quick enough by luck," Jellal walked in.

Levy clasped her hands together. "We have everybody! Now we need to find the quest! Shouldn't be too hard."

In the distance, the team could hear two bickering voices. Of course, it was just Gray and Natsu.

"This is the easiest one! Your's is hard!"

"No way! Mine is easier than what you have!"

"That's it," Gray growled. He raised his fist to punch the other, when Erza commanded him to stop. He quickly put it down as he and Natsu draped their arms around each other.

"No fighting," she glared at the boys.

"Aye!"

"Makarov said it was the easy one AND the one payed the least. Honestly you two-" Erza was abruptly cut off my Lucy.

"Um, Erza. They're all the same pay."

The team looked at the board and sweatdropped. That could explain the boys's arguing. They all payed the same, and were all similar. Levy decided to step up and inspect the jobs. Considering all of her teammates were used to going on all sorts of jobs, she's probably the only one who could tell which one was the easiest. The one that caught her attention was at the bottom left corner of the board. It was a small paper. The only thing that was written was 'Help Needed'. There was an address in the corner, a town that was probably two days away by train. There was a drawing of a tall man with cold eyes. He had a mischevious smile, and wore a phedora. 'The big bad' Levy smiled widely.

"Found it!" she cheered as she showed the rest of her teammates the paper.

"We must report it to the master and leave as soon as possible," Erza decided. Makarov was one step ahead of them since he was standing right behind them, causing Lucy and Levy to jump.

"I take it you are all ready?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. As soon as Lucy summons her celestial spirit we'll be off. In search for our...soulmates." The word sounded strange on Erza's tongue. She wasn't much of a love crazy person.

"Oh so you guys... This will be good," Makarov smirked.

"Come on," Erza said loudly. "We have no time to waste."

Lucy quickly summoned Loke, and the team made their way to the door with their belongings already packed. Levy was the last to leave, since she wanted to hear what the master had to say to Mirajane.

"Oh Mira," he laughed. "They think they need to find their soulmates."

Mira frowned. "Isn't that what the prophecy said, though? The eight of them needed to find their soulmates."

"Yes, but they have already found their soulmates. They just need to figure it out. Why do you think their group must be an even number?"

Levy couldn't hear anything else because she was being dragged off by Gajeel.

"Shrimp, hurry up!" They both jogged to catch up with the rest of the team.

"Girls and boys separate. Both groups need a person to keep track of time. We don't wany any mess ups," Erza's glance to the boys didn't go unnoticed.

"We'll be fine! Well, except for Natsu," Loke looked at the Salamander who was already looking sick by just standing in the train station.

"Natsu will be fine!" Happy chirped in. "Erza, knock him out!"

Without hesitation, the redhead smacked Natsu hard on the back. He instantly blacked out and fell on her. Erza shoved him off to Gray, who groaned from the sudden impact.

"Gray-sama!" The ice mage's eyes widened as he recognized the voice who called out for him.

Juvia came running towards him, causing him to drop Natsu by surprise.

"Juvia heard about the prophecy. Maybe Juvia is your soulmate!" The rain woman's eyes shone with hope.

"Yeah, well, we'll find out later! Right now we've got to find this 'big bad'," Gray responed.

"But don't you-"

Lucy cut Juvia off. "Oh well, would ya look at that! It's time for us to go! Bye, Juvia!"

The team quickly walked away. Gray looked at Lucy and mouthed a 'thank you'. He facepalmed himself when he remebered he'd forgotten something. The ice mage ran back to pick up Natsu, and quickly dumped him into the train.

"That girl," Loke said. "She's head over heels for you, man. Why do you ignore her?"

"Used to it," he simply said. The team got organized as the train started moving.

Nobody talked, seeming as they were all thinking about what was waiting for them. Especially Levy, who'd overheard Makarov and Mira. 'So does that mean...' she stopped thinking about it once her head hit the seat and she succumbed into a dreamless sleep.

**The title could be used to express you all, right? Don't worry, more things will be explained. The real action won't start immediately, since I want to take this at a slower pace than all my other stories. **

**Oh, and the couples! Don't worry, I haven't given any hints as to who's with who.**

**Unless all you sneaky people are smart.**

**Then you have it all figured out.**

**Don't say!**


	3. All Aboard

The train was probably the worst thing the group could've done. Even while everything was silent, Natsu could be heard groaning and moaning.

Lucy had given up on trying to help him, just like everybody else. Only a day and a half left, they had to remind themselves. The boys were stuck with the pink-haired boy. Loke went back to the celestial spirit world and asked to be summoned back when they were done with the train. Jellal was lucky enough to disappear, and Gajeel had been sleeping through the whole ride which was worrying. Happy was nowhere to be seen.

Gray had no luck whatsoever. He was up all night with the annoying sounds coming out of the Salamander's mouth. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and walked over to the cubicle next to him wherr Natsu was sprawled over.

"Dammit, Flamebrain, why can't you be normal?" he growled.

Natsu barely looked up at him before puking on the bag Levy had gotten him. Gray brought his fist back and was ready to strike Natsu, when Happy came flying in and tumbling to the floor. Behind him, a rather angry Carla and grinning Wendy were standing next to Natsu.

Wendy waved. "Happy asked us to come and help with Natsu."

"Aye!" Happy screeched. Wendy brought out a small vial containing a purple substance. It was bubbling, and Gray could faintly smell the scent of cookies Ur used to bake.

"What's that?" he asked, sitting down next to Natsu.

"This," said Wendy rather proudly, "is Medicina Magico. It smells like a person's favorite food, and can heal any low-health problem they may have."

Gray nodded in approval, just glad he might be able to finally sleep in peace for a few hours. After mumbling a quiet 'Smells like salmon', Natsu swallowed the potion and immediately sat up.

"Woo!" His eyes got wide. "I'm all fired up now!"

Wendy giggled and tapped a sleepy Carla on the shoulder, who grabbed her and flew away without so much as a goodbye. Gray, despite everything, smiled to himself.

"Glad you're okay, man," he said.

Natsu laughed. "Woah, Stripper. Gettin' soft now are we?"

"Screw you," Gray grumbled. "Be happy I'm nice for once. I should be kicking ya outta here for not letting me sleep."

Natsu just rolled his eyes and turned to face Happy. The ice mage went back to his cubicle and closed his eyes. Almost instantly, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

That didn't last long. Gray was woken up by a crash right next to him. Before he could properly wake up, a figure started walking towards him. It was tall and slender, and Gray could make out a phedora on its head. The figure was closing in on him, but before anything happened, two hands grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him behind. Gray rubbed his sore head and looked up, only to be met by defying green eyes.

"Wake up, Ice Princess," Natsu commanded. "We got company."

Jellal appeared out of nowhere, and Gajeel decided to finally wake up looking sicks for some reason. Happy flew away, most likely in search for the girls.

"Well," a man's voice hissed, sending shivers down Gray's spine. "We got the whole dream team."

The voice sounded strangely familiar, but Gray shook the feeling off. He ripped his shirt off and got into battle stance.

"Yeah, the team that's gonna beat your sorry ass back to where you came from," Gray spat.

The figure laughed, a sound resembling that of two metals sliding against each other. The man came into the light, his smile wickedly playing on his face. Then Gray noticed, it was Silver. But that was impossible.

Soon the girls came running in, their hairs messy but their faces fierce. Lucy looked at the man and gasped.

"Aquarius?"

And that's when it hit Gray. Deceiving Magic. He subconsciously looked at Natsu, and was angered enough to kill the Deceiver when he saw the pink-haired boy's face.

Natsu was staring wide eyed at the man, his eyes tearing up but no actual tears falling. His fists unclenched as he fell to his knees. His mouth was agape, trying desperately to form the words Gray prayed desperately he wouldn't hear.

And the words that croaked out of Natsu's mouth destroyed what was left of Gray's calmness. "Is that you Igneel?"

Without thinking about it twice, Gray lurched forward and tackled the figure to the floor. Erza requipped into battle armor, slashing around at the shadows the Deceiver had created. The shadows were creepy, with what looked like fangs hanging out from their open mouths.

"Open gate of the lion: Leo!" Lucy roared.

Gray scrambled up and stood in ice make stance. "Ice make: lance!" He threw it towards the man that was clearly not Silver, who easily dodged it.

Gajeel and Levy stood side by side, trying desperately to take out the shadows who's numbers were increasing by the second. Jellal was off to the other end of the train, speeding past the shadows and making them disparse. Lucy and Loke quickly joined Gray, ready to take whoever was in front of them out. Erza was being held down by a group of shadows that were snaking their way down her body. Jellal came as quick as lighting and disparsed the shadows.

"You kids are tougher than I imagined," the Deceiver mused.

Gray's blood started burning. He stood his ground and glared at the Deceiver. 'I swore I'd never use this unless completely necessary,' he grimly thought. Gray inhaled, ready to perform the Ice Devil's Rage, when a flash of pink hair appeared and smashed the figure to the wall of the train.

Natsu was standing firmly in front of the Deceiver that had cause him pain in such a short time. His eyes were blazing. From the window of the train, Gray could see people running away from the fight. He'd forgotten they weren't alone.

The Deceiver smirked. "Salamander."

Natsu frowned, moving closer to Gray. "I am aware that is my name."

Loke smiled, shaking his head in amusement. The celestial spirit could always make a joke out of everything.

Lucy looked at Gray, who was staring intensely at Natsu. An idea popped into her head, but she kept quiet. Gray could already tell what Natsu was planning, and was ready to stand up and take action.

"You are all nearing my place of most power," the Deceiver snarled. With a snap of his fingers, the shadows that were previously attacking the Fairy Tail members backed away and jumped out of the train.

"You all know the prophecy, I assume. Sacrifice is all that awaits. A psychological game, that's how I do things. Are you prepared to give anything else up?"

Natsu shruggged. "I've already given up everything."

Natsu grabbed Gray's hand and pulled him up, both standing side to side. Natsu lit up the palms of his hands while Gray swizzed the ice in his palms. Just as they were about to do their attack, the Deceiver put his hand up and vanished.

Everybody stared dumbfounded at the spot where the Deceiver had been. There was no trace left. No proof that there had been another wizard in there with them. In the mirror, an elementary young kid was staring at the mages with wide eyes. His face basically mirrored everybody else's faces.

The wizards just shook it off and went back to their sleeping cubicles, too tired to do any thinking. Tomorrow was another day.


	4. Never Mind That

**I promise** **I read your comments, I just don't know how to answer them since I read them by my e-mail. Some have asked for me to include a pairing, one that I didn't have in mind. Since I kind of already have something planned out for this story, I can't really change my pairings. BUT I could include those slight pairing moments for the rest. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do it, but I'll try so be ready for that. Just kind of remind me, because I'm pretty spaced and I'll probably forget**.

The train was quiet. Every passenger was having a peaceful morning after a confusing night while eating breakfast the station had payed because of the dusruption. Little kids could be hear giggling, throwing their fruits at each other while their parents scolded them. Some merchants tapped their working boots on the floor, whistling a tune only they seemed to know. It was a nice morn-

"You idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed, Stripper!"

"What was I supposed to do? Leave everybody in danger? Is that it!"

Lucy sweatdropped as she heard the two boys fighting behind her. Natsu was mad that Gray had fought against the Deceiver. The blond had a nagging feeling that it was because the ice mage had proven to be stronger that one ocassion. 'Seriously,' she thought, 'it was only one fight.'

Erza barged into the room with a menacing look on her face. "We have got to find out who this Deceiver is."

"Well," Jellal said, coming out of nowhere. "He's obviously who we're looking for. The guy plays mind games, we've got to be careful. Who knows what he can do."

Levy, who was caught up in reading a book, looked up. Her usually neatly styled hair was a tangled mess. She was the only one still in pajamas, and her eyelids were halfway closed.

"I've been up all night. There's no such thing as deceiver magic anymore."

"Apparently that's not true," said Loke.

Lucy tapped her fingers impatiently on the floor. The coffee in her hand was cold by now, but there was no need for caffeine. She was already too worked up with the whole situation.

"This is scary," she mumbles. "If this type of magic shouldn't exist anymore, then it means danger."

Natsu and Gray sat down in front of her with their faces propped up on their hands in unison. Natsu wore a big grin, and Gray a mischevious smirk. Lucy raised her eyebrow at the two.

"It doesn't mean danger," said Natsu.

"It means fun," finished Gray.

Levy rolled her eyes and looked back to her book. All she wanted to do was find some information of that ancient type of magic, and she'd feel accomplished. She had a weird feeling that there was more to thr Deceiver than appeared in the books. The page on deceiving magic was in only that book. It had a cross across with a stamp that read "NO LONGER IN THIS WORLD".

"I don't know about you guys," Loke piped up. "But I am starving, and this train food is disgusting."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "But there's nothing we can do until we get-"

"Yes there is," Erza interrupted. "We cam jump off and stop at a village. The rest of the walk might take us an extra half a day at the most."

"Nah, I want to stay!" Natsu exclaimed. "I can never ride this thing in peace. It won't hurt us to~"

Everybody looked expectantly at Natsu who had a frown on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but immediately put his hand on top of it. The dragon slayer was turning as white as a sheet of paper at an extreme pace. Soon enough, he was draped all over the floor. Gray immediately walked put of the room, having learned that if hr wasn't quick he'd be stuck with Natsu. Before Levy could even stand up, everybody had ran out of the room.

She clicked her tongue. "I guess we are jumping after all."

Lucy stared at the open door in front of her, hands sweating and legs shaking. Everybody was ready to jump out. Lucy had been pumped until she saw the outside. The village could be seen a few miles north, but the small journey of a desert before seemed scary. The blonde could imagine a random troll pop out of the sand, grabbing her feet, and taking her down. 'That's a nice thought,' she scowled.

"Come on, Lucy," groaned Erza, who was carrying Natsu like a potato sack. "All you need to do is jump and keep going."

'Easy for you to say,' she thought. Having no other option left, she stood next to the redhead and nodded. Loke counted to three, and they all jumped. Lucy gasped as the fresh air slapped her across the face. All gravity had disappeared, as she momentarily felt like she was flying. Too soon for her liking, her feet touched the ground. Lucy screeched in pain, but managed to move her legs , breaking into a run. It all happened so fast. Her legs buckled and she could only put her hands in front of her as she made contact with the hard ground. After rolling a few feet in front, her body came to a stop. Almost immediately, Loke had ran to her side and helped her up, all while holding back a laugh.

"Well," she huffed while straightening her skirt. "That was painful."

Levy, who was currently on the floor, nodded in agreement. Erza threw Natsu on the floor, who stood up and grinned. "Wasn't that bad!"

"Yeah, because I did all the work," Erza glared at him.

Gray looked around, frowning when he saw the village. "About five miles away. I hope the food is worth it."

The group grabbed their scattered bags, securing them on.

"Food's food, Ice Cube. No matter what, enjoy it!" Natsu said, drooling as the thought of food invaded his mind. Loke nodded in agreement, and soon both boys were racing off.

Five miles and two stops later the group found themselves in front of a diner. The name read 'Ignore the Pests'.

"I really hope that's just for humor," Lucy shivered.

The door's bell ringed as the wizards made their way inside. There weren't many people inside, leaving a wide variety of choices where to sit down. The eight sat down in a table at the far corner, plopping down and dropping their bags with a loud thud. A waitress skipped towards them with an excited grin on her face.

"New customers!" she squealed. "We barely get any!"

"Maybe it's because of the name," Lucy mumbled, earning her a small glare from Levy.

"Here are your menus! I'll be back in a sec with drinks! We really only have water~" the girl looked uncomfortable.

Gray shrugged. "Liquid is liquid. I take any kind."

After the white haired waitress left, Loke turned towards Gray.

"Bro," he sighed. "That sounded disgusting."

Before Gray could give a retort, the doors of the diner flew open. There were two men holding up a woman. The men could be identified as twins, with the same broad shoulders and angled face. The woman, on the other hand, looked frail. Lucy imagined that of she only touched the woman, said person would simply shatter. Her brown, thin hair covered her face. But Lucy noticed the way her lip trembled, as well as her hands.

"Help!" one of the men yelled. "She was attacked by the Big Bad!"

'The Deceiver?' Gray thought. He stood up and walked over to the men, taking a good look of the woman. Her eyes were wide, lips fleshy, and fingernails bleeding like she had bitten them.

"Are you okay?" he asked surprisingly soft.

The woman looked up at him, and her eyes widened even more. She struggled out of the grasp of the two taken back men, and clutched Gray's shirt. She started talking in a language Gray couldn't quite place. The other seven magicians scrambled up to help Gray. Jusg before he was set free, the woman stared into his eyes as if in a trance.

"Memories are golden," she whispered. "Slayer will soon be silver."

And then she fell. Just like that. Gray stared in confusion at the unconscious woman in front of him. Her breathe was steady, but even in this state, she looked uncomfortable. Erza looked at him with a questioning expression on her face. The only response she got was a small shrug.

Happy fumed. "Does that mean I won't get my salmon?"

**Woooow finally finished with this chapter**

**Felt like forever**

**I think it's longer than the rest! Maybe I'll keep writing it like this. Pieces a day!**

**I really don't know if it's longer, I'm checking once I post it**

**So professional**

**Hope you guys liked it! Next chapter is them arriving at the village with the Deceiver**

**Until next time bunnies!**


	5. Story Has It

The eight hour walk to the village was one of the most horrible things Levy had ever done. She would've enjoyed it if she could have read during the way there, but Gajeel kept knocking them off her hands and getting them dirty. Eventually she gave up, and walked silently the rest of the way while Gray and Loke argued with Gajeel and Natsu.

"Could you guys stop? It doesn't matter whether pandas are better than koalas," Lucy said.

Natsu gasped. "What do you mean, Lucy? Do you not care? Koalas are obviously better!"

"In your dreams," Gray fired back. "Pandas are multi-cultural!"

"Koalas are cuter!" Gajeel roared, causing Levy to laugh. A man just doesn't look manly while saying the word "cute". She tuned them out when Loke started describing panda eyes. The only thing on her mind was how deceiver magic wasn't supposed to exist. 'Not in this world,' she recited. 'What does that mean?'. She'd read about the theory of other dimensions, but there was no reason for both to collide. It was nearly impossible.

"Agh, this is too confusing!" Levy hadn't noticed she'd said that out loud until she saw everybody looking at her.

Gajeel roughly patted her head. "Don't ya worry, Shorty. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Levy grinned despite herself. Gajeel seemed to make her do that. "As soon as we get there I'll be digging through more books."

"That," Jellal said. "Won't be too long from now."

Levy skimmed the land in front of her. The village was fairly big, with houses built almost the same way. Creamy colors splashed on the walls, reminding Levy of a dystopian book she'd read. Iron gates separated them in the forest from the inside. A young man was sitting near the entrance, a cap covering his face.

"I hope there's food," Natsu happily said.

The guard felt their presence and looked up, scowling while he did so. "Sorry kids, but nobody comes in or goes out. The curse."

All the Fairy Tail members instinctively revealed their fairy marks. Lucy looked around.

'Brings back memories,' she smiled, remembering the time they went to that "cursed" island full of demons. That had been one of her most favorite jobs.

The guard stared at them with slightly wide eyes, and inmediately apologized. "Excuse me, I didn't know you were wizards coming to help I~" he trailed off.

Erza chuckled and raised her hand. "Don't worry. There was no warning. It was of last notice, to us even."

The guard quickly srambled up and clanked a club on the gates. After a few moments, the iron bars creaked open. Without the Gajeel food hiding it, the place looked beautiful, yet simple. The team walked inside, staring at everything around them. Natsu's nose immediately caught a delicious smell, and he grinned at Happy.

"Tuna!" they both exclaimed, pumping their fists up. The two were quick to separate from the group and investigate where the smell was coming from.

"So," Erza piped up. "We've got to stay somewhere. Levy, you take care of that with Lucy. You boys, come with me."

The remaining seven spread out to do their jobs. Lucy kept kicking rocks out of the way as they walked near the shore of the lake, spreading her arms next to her like always. Levy had a book in hand, trusting Lucy wouldn't do anything like Gajeel.

"You find anything?" Lucy questioned.

"No," Levy sighed. "You find a place?"

Lucy was about to shake her head no, when a blue building caught her eye. It stood out like a sore thumb, considering the rest of the buildings were cream. She grabbed Levy's arm and pulled her towards the place. It was about four stories high, according to Lucy's estimation. Levy rang the bell for a helper to come, and a girl popped out of the back. Big, brown eyes were wide.

"Hello!" Lucy grinned. "We were looking for a place to crash. Do you mind helping us?"

"You...are new? New people don't come in," the girl whispered.

Levy laughed nervously. "We're gonna end that! Here to help."

The girl called behind her in a language Levy had always loved, Italian. An older version of the girl came out dying her hands on her dress.

"How may we help you?" Her accent was thicker than the girl's.

"We're wizards from Fairy Tail! Here to help with the Big Bad," Lucy said proudly. The woman studied the two mages, and nodded her head.

"We have rooms to share. How many?"

"Eight, unless flying cats count," Levy joked. The woman didn't even crack a smile, and ushered them out.

"Get your friends," she commanded. "There is much you all need to know."

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were scarfing down the whole village bakery. People watched them in amazement as they drowned themselves in food, asking for more food as soon as they finished.

"How can you manage to eat so much and still stay fit, Pyro?"

Natsu merely looked up as the ice mage who'd spoken slid into the seat in front of him. Happy kept eating his fish, not taking his huge eyes off Gray.

"Weren't you with Erza and the rest?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gray scratched his head. "I got lost. Kept staring at a shop and~"

Natsu raised his hand and pushed a plate of egg rolls over to Gray. He grinned at the demon slayer. "I got your favorite!"

Gray raised his eyebrows at Salamander, poking the egg roll with his pinky. He slowly picked it up, and took a bite. Natsu wasn't looking at him anymore, but his face was...weird.

"What did you do to this?" Gray asked, putting the roll down.

Natsu picked up an egg roll from a different plate and popped it in his mouth, frowning. "Apparently nothing-AGH."

The pink haired boy started fanning his mouth. He grabbed a waitress's water container and sipped the thing empty. Smoke was coming out of his ears, Gray noted.

"I get it now," Gray smirked, taking a bite of his safe egg roll. He didn't notice that he grabbed the wrong one.

"HOLY SH-" Everybody that had a kid screamed at him, so Gray shut up. Happy had a tiny smile on his face, shaking his head at the two.

"Gray and Natsu haven't changed."

After Lucy and Levy had found Erza and the boys, they all made their way to the building they'd be staying at. The woman, who they learned her name was María, had gotten four bedrooms ready. The little girl, called Kamila, gave them a bunch of fluffy pillows Loke had immediately jumped on.

"So," Lucy sat with her legs crossed with the rest of the wizards. "What did we need to know?"

María was sitting next to Kamila, both drawing weird shapes on a notepad.

"The Big Bad," the woman and girl flinched as the name cane out of their mouths. "Should not be spoken about. Have a peek at its power."

Without another word, they both raised their hands and slammed them down on the notepad. Roman letters traveled across the celestial beings' eyes. Everybody was enveloped in a blinding white light. One moment they were suspended in mid-air, staring at complete darkness. Not even able to see each other. Then they crashed on a wooden floor that gave out a sickening crack. The mages rubbed their heads, everything blurry for a moment.

"This is the start," a voice could be heard. Natsu stood up and began punching at the air.

"Whoever you are, mystery voice, get us outta here! Lucy is slightly claustrophobic!"

The room they were in was, in fact, too small for Lucy's comfort. She began panting, cluctching at her shirt as she imagined the roof falling on her. 'I seriously have got to stop these thoughts,' she scolded herself.

"Why would she?" the voice spoke.

Natsu stared incredulously at the wall. "We're in a small-"

His voice caught in his throat as a large corridor appeared before him. "Was that there before?"

Erza looked around, squinting at the darkness. She commanded for everybody to stand up, and started walking down the corridor. The only thing keeping her from hitting something was her hands in front. Natsu then lit a flame on his fist. It didn't brighten the corridor much, but it did help them see where they were stepping. A small door opened out of nowhere, causing them all to jump back.

"He was sucked in," the voice hissed. Suddenly they were inside the room, looking around a place anybody would call home.

"And he abused," the voice said again. In a table with every food Natsu could think off, everybody was stuffing their faces with no control. Levy looked already full, but couldn't find it within her to stop.

The voice spoke again. "But the Big Bad loves revenge."

Before Gajeel could register anything, they were running. His feet were moving at an incredible speed, but he scratched his chin. 'What are we running from?' he asked himself. The iron eater tried to stop himself, but it was like he had no control of his actions. Hearing a shriek, he whipped his head around.

Levy was being held down by a shadow, similar to the ones they'd encountered at the train. "Help!"

But nobody could. In the blink of an eye, more shadows appeared. As they closed in on the rest of the group, the mysterious voice spoke again. "He should've just said yes."

The image of a man in a white room, shaking uncontrollably appeared before all of them. He had a crazed look in his eyes, and was staring right at the wizards. When he opened his mouth, Lucy expected to hear a male's scream. Instead, what came out was the mysterious voice's voice, clearly being identified as a woman. "Always say yes!"

A swirling cloud of shadows started pulling at the group. The pull was so much, Gray was itching to just let it take him. Two giant hands enveloped him before he could run, knocking him out. Everybody struggled to break free, unfortunately they weren't psychologically strong enough.

Nobody was psychologically strong enough to handle the Big Bad.

**I am about to throw my computer across the room. I'm just going to update this chapter right now, to see if the same thing happens. Three chapters were deleted, so I am extremely sorry! I'll be working with it so don't get confused with weird things. I would appreciate if you guys told me if there's something wrong! That way I can fix it! (This is what happens when you try to update every chapter and stories at 2 am)**


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